Tide-signal



M. R. FLETCHER.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

TIDE SIGNAL.

(No Model.)

Patented Mar. 11,1890;

(No Model.)

' 2Sheets-Sheet 2. M. R. FLETCHER.

TIDE SIGNAL.

Patented Mar. 11. 1890.

NY PETERS. Pholc-Lnhugraphur, Washinpinn D. C

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MOORERUSSELL FLETCHER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TIDE-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 422,928, dated March 11, 1890.

Application filed May 12, 1887:

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Moonn RUssELL FLETCHER, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tideto me June 26, 1855, for tidal alarm. In my former patent a series of hammers mounted side by side were caused to strike a gong by the action on the hammer-handles of a series of pins in the periphery of a rotating wheel, each pin striking one handle only. Said wheel was rotated and the hammers actuated by the rising and falling of the tides alternately raising and lowering a float and a sinkerweight connected by ropes with a drum on the axle of said wheel By my present improvement I employ a single hammer only and connect the extremity of its handle by a link with a pivoted lever actuated by projections on the rotating wheel, so placed as to give the strokes on the bell on a rising tide in a different manner from those on a falling tide. I partially inclose the bell by a flaring resonant shield facing to seaward, and provide one or more trumpets leading therefrom for the purpose of concentrating and projecting the sound in the desired directions. I surround the float with a crib or breakwater, or furnish vertical guides for the movements of the float and sinker, so that their proper action shall not be disturbed by the waves.

My present invention consists in the combinations of devices herein set forth, and speci fied in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of apparatus embodying the several features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail of the striking mechanism, and Fig. 4 illustrates a modification in which parts of the apparatus are applied to a lighthouse.

A represents in Figs. 1 and 2 a suitable supportingframe, braced and made strong to resist the action of wind and wave and lo cated in tide water of moderate depth.

Serial No. 237,945. (No model.)

rise and fall with the tide, and at its opposite I end with a sinker G, arranged to move in al- It'is obvious that ternation with the float. there may be two separate ropes, one for the float and the other for the sinker, and that they may be coiled on pulleys of different diameters to adjust the leverage-of the weights as desired. The float F is a buoyant weight of,

perhaps, six thousand pounds and the sinker a dead-weight of, say, three thousand pounds, the difference being sufficient at all times to secure the vertical movement desired, and thus to actuate the striking mechanism. The weights move in guides or vertical ways, as at W, Fig. 1. The sinker may be at all times above the water, so that its action will be uniform. In addition to these guides, or as a substitute for them, I surround the float with a crib or breakwater Z of timbers, perforated to admit water freely, but to break the force of the waves, so that the weight shall not be drifted about or thrown out of position.

The wheel O is agear-wheel, and is shown as in mesh with a pinion II on the shaft of the striker wheel I, which has a series of pins K in its periphery to engage with a strikinglever L, pivoted to the frame at M and connected by a joint J and link N with the end of the hammer handle O, which is shown pivoted at P in position to strike a quick blow upon the bell Q, when the lever L is disengaged from each pin. A suitable spring R throws back the hammer slightly from the bell, so as not to interfere with its resonance.

The pins K are located in groups on the wheel I, so as to have intervals of silence followed by a succession of blows of the hammer upon the bell, and in order to distinguish the different localities along a given coast I design to give a different number of strokes at the several points, and hence the number of pins in a group will depend on the place for. which the apparatus is intended,

and sailors approaching during a fog can know by the number of blows the exact 10- whileon a falling tide 'the first blows are at regular intervals andthe last two are quicker.

This order may be reversed or the arrangement otherwise modified without departing from this feature of my invention, so long as the strokes automatically indicate the character of the tide. An additional gear wheel and pinion may be introduced in the train to increase the surface speed of the strikerwheel, or such wheel be mounted direct on the shaft of the drum D in lieu of the wheel 0. The bell Q is partially inclo'sed by aflaring I shield or sounder S, designed to throw the sound generally to seaward. From the front of this shield one or more trumpets T extend Q in the directions to which it is especially def sired to project the sound. In. the drawings these trumpets are shown pointing to seaward Y and up and down the shore for the-purpose of increasing the volume of the sound and causin g it to reverberate and beheard much farther than if generally diffused in the open air. The trumpets may be of the form shown or such other shape as will best direct and concentrate the sound.

In the modification, Fig. 4:, the float is shown within the crib Z, from which the chain E extends into the light-house V, thence over pulleys to the weight G to actuate the mechanism. (Not shown.)

- I claim asm-y invention- In a tide-signal apparatus, the combination, with the bell and striking mechanism, of the shield or sounder S and trumpets T, said sounder being located in rear of the bell and adapted to deflect the sound to seaward, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed 'my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 28th day of April, A. D. 1887..

MOORE RUSSELL FLETCHER.

Witnesses:

A. H. SPENCER, J. G. KENNEDY. 

